Refrigerating apparatus



Patented Aug. :5, 1931' UNITED STATES PATENT orrica nuns a arm or narrow, omo, assmuoa ro' marnamn coaromrrompr narrow, 01:10, a coar'onunon ornmwaaamaremrme armres Application fled 1mm so, me. Serial 10. 268,057.

Thisinvention relates to refrigerating ap paratus and more particularly to the sealing" means for a shaft passing through a wall of v the refrigerating apparatus such as the shaft 5 of a compressor.

An ob ect of this invention is to provide a seal for a shaft passing throu 'h a wall of the refrigerating a paratus whic seal is provided with means or preventing squeaks.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for preventing audible vibrationsin a flexible wall which provides a seal.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, .reference being bad drawings, wherein a to'the accompanyin present invention is preferred form of t e clearly shown. In the drawings: I

Fig. 1- is a vview partly in cross-section,

partly inelevation and partly diagrammatic of the system embodying features of myinvention;

' Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a felt washer 35 used within the seal, shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 is a cross-section of a modified form of seal.

A. refrigerating system embodying features of my invention is generally designated 39 as 20. It may comprise a compressor 21, discharging compressed refrigerant into a condenser generally designated as 22, which discharges liquefied refrigerant .into a receiver 23, which in turn delivers liquefied refriger-- ant to an evaporator 24, from which the evaporator refrigerant returns to the compressor 20. In the embodiment shown, the compressor discharges through an outlet into the pipe 26,"which delivers the refrigerant to the V condenser 22. The evaporator 24, which may be. ofthe float controlled type, returns the refrigerant through the pipe 27 .preferably to the. crankcase 28 of the compressor 21. A motor-control means may be provided for instance in the low pressure line27 of the system, and may comprise a collapsible bel- 51ows 28 connected to the line 27 through the pipe 29. a The collapsible bellows may operso ate a snap switch 30 which starts and stops an sure in the system-may become relatively by litharge,

\ A spring 41 is interposed between the end plate member 39 andthe ring 36 in order to electric motor which drives the compressor 21 b means of the shaft 31.

'T e crankcase 28' contains refrigerant under. varying pressure. For instance, should the system, which is of the household refrigeration type, be disconnected from the source of'elect'ricity for a long period of time, such as during transportation or during absence-of the occupants of the house, the presgreat. Again, at times, during the operation of the system, the refri era'nt in the casing 28 may be at sub-atmosp' eric pressure. Thus it is seen that the pressures within the crankcase 28 ma vary greatly.

The sha 31, in order to be connected with the motor, must pass. through a wall of the system, and, in this particular embodiment, it passes through a wall of the crankcase. 28. At this point, means must be provided which prevents the passage of refrigerantoutwardly from or which prevents the passage of'air inwardly into the s stem. A means for pro-. viding this seal is s own generally at-32. It may comprisea sleeve 33 made of relatively self-lubricating material such as described in the patent to Williams et al., 1,642,347. This sleeve abuts against a shoulder 34 on the shaft 31. The sleeve 33 is hermetically connected with a resilient or flexible wall 35 which may be of the metal type illustrated. For connecting the flexible or resilient wall 35 with the sleeve 33 a ring 36 may be hermetically connected with the wall 35 and the collar 33 may be hermetically connected, as with the ring 36. The wall 35 may abut against a gasket-like member 37 clamped between the flange-38 of'the case 28 and the end plate 39 by'means of'bolts 40.

exert a pressure against the sleeve 33 formaintaining a hermetic seal between the sleeve 33 andthe shoulder 34.

Merely to present some figures as examples, in a system using S02, the sleeve 33 may have an external diameter about one inch and an internal] diameter-of the contacting surface may be 3/; inch. The spring 41 may exert about 70 lbs. pressure on this sleeve 33. v 10' and -- around the eccentric to vibrations,

. wall 35.

' hermetically in place against the change'their periods so that e end of the shaft 31 may have a belt drive connection over pulleys with the electric motor. 4 v

- A seal of the type hereinbefore described is liable to set u ueaking noiseswhich are very disagreea 'le 1n refrigerating machinery of the household type. Inorder todampen out these squeaking noises which may be due 7 in the sealing means, within the audible range, I may provide solid material damping means to be in contact with the flexible wall 35. As an example, I may rovide felt rin 42interposed' between the olds of the flexl le wall 35. These discs are preferably placed on the inside of the flexible n the modification shown in Fig. 3

the felt ma be a continuous cylindr' l member which ollows the corrugation of the bellows, thus the felt 42' is a cont'nuous piece within'the bellows 35'. The rds solid material are used herein to designate a material which does not tend' to flow readily, and which therefore may be confined lin flexible wall. A purpose of the felt'damping means is to change the vibration periods of the seal. It is possible that the felt means does not prevent vibrations entirely, but it does they are no longer in the. range ordinarily audible to human beings. I

The shaft 31 is 51 formed in the.

an eccentric member 52 may be keyed by a key 53 to the shaft 31. Thecollar 54 ton 55 forcirculatin the system 20. Suita vided in the compressor the refrigerant.

Oil passages and 61 may connect the the refrigerant within le valve means are propiston 55 and other parts of the crankcase 28 and the space surrounding the shoulder 34. Merely as a theory, the truth of which is not necessary to the completeness of this disclosure, the audible vibrations in the seal may be either torsional in character, or they may be of an axialcharacter, or. possibly a combination of the two, due to irregular slippage between the ring 33 and the shoulder 34.

While the form of embodiment .of the invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other orms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

I at is claimed is, as follows:

1. In a refrigerating system wherein re-' frigeran't is circulated, a casing for contain-L ing said-refrigerant, a rotary shaft passing through said casing, a hermetic seal between said shaft and wall, and felt against said wall for J preventlng audible vlbratlons in said seal.

or causing the circulation of casing comprising a flexible provided with a shaft passing from a space .connected with the atmos here to a refrigerace, a seal on sai shaft for reventage of gas comprising a flex1 le wall DUANE NEAL.

placed in bearings, 50 and walls of the crankcase 28' 52 reciprocates the pis- In a refrigerating system, a compressor I hereto aflix my 

